COTABATO CITY — Peace advocates, former Moro combatants, civil society organizations, and youth groups converged in Mendiola, Manila, on Monday to renew their collective call on the national government to honor the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and safeguard the gains of the Bangsamoro peace process.

The rally was held under the banner of "Move for Peace Now!"

Datu Tokz Bin Abdulrahman, spokesperson of Move for Peace Now!, appealed directly to Malacañang to heed the voice of the Bangsamoro people and address longstanding concerns over the implementation of the CAB — the historic peace agreement signed in 2014 after 17 years of negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which paved the way for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 2019.

"We are appealing to Malacañang to hear our concerns and requests. While we do not necessarily expect immediate action, we continue to hope that they will respond because what is at stake here is the peace process and the peace agreement that we must continue to protect," Abdulrahman said in a phone interview.

The rally centered on three core demands: the full implementation of the CAB, the protection of hard-earned peace gains, and the restoration of MILF-aligned leadership within the Bangsamoro transition process.

Abdulrahman was clear that the movement's purpose is not to sow division, but to hold the government to commitments already made and signed.

"Our only request is for the signed peace agreement to be implemented and respected. It is already there; we simply need to follow and implement what has been agreed upon," he said.

The group acknowledged that no official response from the national government has been received thus far, but remained hopeful, citing previous peaceful actions that had yielded positive developments in the peace process.

12:32?PM

Iqbal calls removal from MBHTE 'a blessing,' hits back at 'selective' anti-corruption drive

By Taher G. Solaiman

COTABATO CITY — Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) First Vice Chairman and Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Member of Parliament Mohagher Iqbal on Sunday broke his silence over his controversial dismissal as Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao's Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), describing the removal as "more of a blessing rather than a jinx."

In a Facebook post dated June 15, Iqbal opened with a triple invocation of praise — "Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah" — before citing a Qur-anic verse: "When there is hardship there is ease."

"I have never felt the pang of it; on the contrary, more than ever, I am relieved of a hellish situation," Iqbal wrote, without naming those he held responsible for his ouster.

He described the environment he left behind as one "where people are convicted before they are tried, where comrades for more than four decades of struggle are treated like enemies, and where the so-called campaign against corruption is selectively applied."

Iqbal also alluded to the credibility of those who orchestrated his dismissal, invoking a common metaphor: "Forgetting that accusing someone, only two fingers are pointing to the accused but three rivet back to the accuser."

In a pointed warning to unnamed officials, he compared the BARMM's close-knit political environment to the pungent durian fruit. "In the BARMM, everybody knows everybody. Like the foul-smelling durian fruit, even stored in a tight closet, the smell will still stink," he wrote.

Iqbal closed his statement on a note of measured confidence in divine justice: "Allah knows everything. In the end, the truth will unfold itself and judgment will be rendered."

Iqbal's dismissal was widely seen as part of a broader consolidation of power by the Macacua camp.

Legal observers, including Atty. Camilo Miguel "Bong" Montesa in a widely circulated Amicus Pacis opinion, have questioned the legal basis of Iqbal's removal, adding weight to concerns over due process within the Bangsamoro government.

Iqbal has served the Bangsamoro cause for more than five decades and remains a central figure in BARMM politics as the September 14, 2026 Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections draw near.